Scout Day was Miller Time

Larry Vettel

03/18/2008

Tuesday's Pro Scout day for the Gators was not one of the most eventful we're seen in The Swamp.

Florida's top two draft picks, Derrick Harvey and Andre "Bubba" Caldwell went through some things, but not all of them. Harvey is virtually certain to be a first round pick and had a chance to impress one head coach, Carolina's John Fox who has an interesting in him. One highlight was watching Harvey drop into coverage and intercept a pass in a zone-blitz drill. Caldwell skipped the 40-yard dash after his blistering time in the combine and instead ran some routes and caught some passes. Caldwell is ticketed by most as a potential second round pick and did nothing to hurt that status at all.

The one guy who may have really done himself some good is Drew Miller.

Florida's versatile offensive lineman was not invited to take part in the combine in Indianapolis, but he made an immediate impression when he benched 225 pounds 34 times in the weight room. He followed that up with two solid forty times in the 5.04 – 5.18 range and has to have some teams thinking about him as a possibility on day two of the April selection process. Miller has played everywhere on the offensive line and while that can slow a player's development it also shows an adaptability that is increasingly important in the salary cap age. After the workout an obviously pleased Miller spoke with us media types.

MT: What have the NFL people told you that you need to work on?

DM: Well I got a few things at the East/West game. They said they wanted me to improve my upper body strength and a came out and did 34 reps today so I think I proved that. They wanted to see better athletic bend and stuff and I did that in drills and showed how athletic I was so I think that helped me out.

MT: Having played all over the line is that versatility something the scouts have said they like about you?

DM: Yeah they definitely said that's going to help me out a lot. They wanted to see game film of me from each position. Now all I can do is sit around and wait. I'm going to keep training hard so if I get called I'll be ready to go.

MT: What's this process like from start to finish? Even though they have a lot of film on you they still put your through all of this.

DM: I got a little setback when I didn't get invited to the combine, but I couldn't let it hold me down. I worked hard, came out here and had a great day. This is what I've been dreaming these past few months, about this day.

LV: Drew when you finished your first forty you got some "oohs" from the guys with the watches. What did you think about that?

DM: I thought I started out slow, but when I heard that I thought maybe it was pretty good. As for my time, I don't know what time they had for me (5.35 coming into the workout) but I think it was pretty slow. I knew I had to come out and improve on it and I can out and did what I knew what I was going to do.

MT: Was there any nervousness? Any butterflies?

DM: Oh yeah, I was nervous. I really wasn't coming into this day but then I woke up at six-thirty and I was like, whoa, what's wrong with me? I've played in front of 90-thousand. But I calmed down after I got my vert (vertical jump) done and then I just started going.

MT: What's it like to finally be out here pursuing a dream you have for eight years or more?

DM: It's amazing. It went by so fast I can't even tell you how fast it went by. It was an amazing four years. I am so glad I picked the University of Florida, and now it's time to move on.

LV: Was there any part of you that wanted to show them that you should have been in Indianapolis?

DM: Oh yeah, that's definitely in the back of my mind. I know it's not their (the scouts) fault, that's just how the cards were played. I wanted to do the best I could and I definitely think I showed them something.